Cindy Rosenwald, the no. 2 Senate Democrat in New Hampshire, announces retirement

State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, who represents Nashua and serves as the Senate deputy minority leader, announced Wednesday morning she won’t seek re-election in November, putting a cap on a 22-year career in state politics.

“Serving the people of Nashua and New Hampshire has been the honor of my life,” Rosenwald said in a statement. “When I first came to the State House in 2005, I made a promise to myself that I would fight every day for the people who needed a voice in Concord most — those without access to care, those waiting for support, those falling through the cracks of a system that too often forgot them. I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish together over these years.”

From December 2004 to 2018, Rosenwald served in the state House of Representatives. In 2018, she was elected to the state Senate. In 2020, she was named the deputy minority leader of the Senate, serving under Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins-Kwoka.

Rosenwald cites among her proudest accomplishments the state’s expansion of Medicaid in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act; working with other lawmakers to end the waitlist for state disability services in 2007; and her service on the state’s Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, which was created in 2020 as a response to the opioid epidemic. In the Senate, Rosenwald serves on the Finance and Ways and Means committees, two of the most powerful legislative committees. Recently, she has been an outspoken critic of many recent Republican initiatives, such as their plan to begin charging some Medicaid enrollees premiums and the expansion of the state’s voucher-like education freedom account program.

“As someone who has known Cindy Rosenwald for more than 20 years, I know her career has been defined by her unwavering focus on delivering a balanced budget and real results for New Hampshire families,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said in a statement. “New Hampshire Democrats are immensely grateful for her years of service, and we wish her all the best in her retirement.”

Rosenwald’s daughter, Rep. Carrie Sorensen, a Portsmouth Democrat, is also in the state Legislature.